Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Son of Bazerk's Half Pint Speaks

Known as Half Pint, she was 1/5 of the underrated rap group Son of Bazerk. Her high-pitched interjections brought urgency to the Bomb Squad produced tracks, similar to what her former babysitter, Flavor Flav did for Public Enemy.

Years later, she now answers to Ms. Jackson, as a teacher at Roosevelt High School in Long Island. Half-Pint shares memories from her colorful past as a member of a cutting-edge hip hop group.

How was the concept for Son of Bazerk brought to you?The core of the group was already formed and a lot of the material done. It was Hank from the bomb squad who approached me one day when I was in the park playing basketball with my friends We were beating the guys as usual) He heard me talking loud (cracking jokes and so forth) and asked me if I wanted to be in a group I was like yeah whatever brushing him off cause I thought he was crazy. Then he told me who he was and what he did, still brushing him off when I looked it up from my music collection of PE and I just laughed. He contacted me the next day met my grandparents and told them his intentions and the rest is history.

Characterize your role in the group.I was the Lynn Collins of the group to Bazerk's was James Brown .I thought our shows were the bomb as we all played off each other. Being on stage is the greatest high you can get. When we went overseas to Germany and France, we headlined our one show that was crazy we would do the entire album and then some. In Holland, we were apart of a weekend extravaganza, it was off the hook. The only thing I regret is not having any of our shows on tape. I also wish i had kept some other memorabilia.On tour all the groups would stay and watch each other perform and then hang out afterwards. I remember sitting with Ice T off to the side watching Naughty By Nature (who was definitely hot) perform and he was explaining to me the excitement he got from watching the crowd get hype during each groups performance and how to read a crowd to give them want they want and make a show hot.

What was your first concert as a member of SOB like?My first concert with SOB I believe we did the Apollo with PE, Rakim, we split time with Young Black Teenagers. It was crazy I never knew how a stage could impact a performance I loved it!! It was a little raw because it was like 7 of us 3 mikes. We all was supposed to dance but the guys really did get in to it so I danced with two dancers we had. One of them used to dance for LL cool J. The next time we performed I was ready and we had a nice routine set up. Overseas, we headlined several venues and it was hot to def I wish I had some footage from that.

What did you learn from touring with SOB and other hip hop groups?Being on tour was fun. I got homesick because other than being at college an hour and a half away, I never really been away from home for an extended period of time. We had to rough it, with 17 in a van and no air conditioning in the summertime. Winnebagos [filled] with equipment, 11 people and no idea where we were going but it was fun. The tour with PE was the best I learned so much from them and the other groups (Fear of a Black Planet Tour) I think? It was us Leaders of the new school, Queen Latifah, M.C. Lyte Naughty by Nature, Kid N'Play, Fresh Prince, Geto Boys and Ice T.It was nothin' but love on tour from day one they all treated me like a little sister and gave me much respect as I have much love and respect for them That was a pivotal moment in life.When we came home that tour we began work on the 2nd album It was supposed to be titled "So many Tricks ..." We actually completed several songs including what was supposed to be my solo single "No Fair Ones."

Do your students know about your rap past?I teach a history of hip hop class and yes, I tell the students about the small contribution to hip hop my group has made. They always wanna battle but the teacher remains the master even if the content has changed.

2 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Can we say...wayyyyyy ahead of their time...It's sad that their originality and cutting edge presentation has been perverted into the standard fare gimmick-try (not a word) for this hip hop generation of manufactured, mainstream monkeys...

"Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk" is in my top 10 hiphop albums of all time. Totally unique, clever, funny, funky, engaging, it is the antithesis to Diddy, Kanye West and so on. It's such a pity that the crew stopped so soon, the world needs hiphop like this RIGHT NOW!

It's fantastic that hiphop has become such a broad genre that can encompass so many different flavours, just like jazz and electronica have. Not bad for a "fad", eh?!